A University of Tennessee (UT) student organization is seeking private assistance for its inaugural 'Sex Week' activities, after officials denied state funding due to criticism from certain state legislators

Lawmakers alleged that it was inappropriate to use state funding for Sex Week programs.

Sex Week is a weeklong series of events and panel discussions scheduled to begin, April 5 at UT.

The university later issued a statement:

"The University's three-part mission is to provide education, research and public service, and the state allocates this funding to help us fulfill the mission. Some activities planned as part of Sex Week are not an appropriate use of state tax dollars."

The university officials, last week, took back all the state money , $11,145 that came from academic departments and programs out of the event's $18,195 budget, which led to the private fundraising campaign.

Brianna Rader, co-founder of Sexual Empowerment and Awareness at Tennessee, said that the campaign has so far collected more than $10,076.94 as of Tuesday and the donations still continue to pour in.

Out of the contributions, Planned Parenthood and the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church donated $1,000 and $870, respectively; overall, 104 donors contributed $3,919 through the student group's Indiegogo site and another 150 donors gave $5,287.94 through a PayPal account.

"The fact that all of these people are rallying around us makes us feel like it (Sex Week) actually has a purpose. When the politicians jumped on board and UT pulled the funding, I think it outraged a lot of people. Lots of people want the event to go on," Rader said.

Rader also said that the organisation will be left with extra money as the university's Central Programming Council donated $4,000.

The organisation is planning to use the additional money, around $3,000, for next month's activities.

Rader said that SeekingArrangement.com, an online dating service that helps college co-eds get in touch with wealthy benefactors to pay for tuition and books, agreed to give the entire money that was taken away by the university officials.

But they chose not to take it as the site had put forward certain conditions that did not adhere with the organisation's policies and mission statement.

They wanted to name the event as, 'Sex Week', sponsored by SeekingArrangement.com, and they also wanted to add three events called 'Mutually Beneficial Relationships,' 'Alternatives to Marriage,' and 'Sex, Power and Money.'